Marie Burke

Marie Burke was stabbed to death at her flat in Sussex Gardens, Paddington, London on Thursday 25 May 1989.

It was said that she was last seen the evening before in The Monkey Puzzle, a local restaurant.

She had worked at the United States Embassy in London and was second secretary in the consular section dealing with visas.

She was a widow and was from New York State in the United States.

She had rented her flat in Sussex Gardens which was described as being worth about £300,000.

After her murder was discovered the police found that her purse was missing. However, it was noted that other items in her flat such as valuable paintings and antiques had been left untouched.

Her post mortem showed no signs of any sexual assault.

No murder weapon was found.

It was noted that at the time Yardie gangsters had been running a US visa racket and were making money by selling visas for up to $6,000 apiece. It was said that someone in the US embassy had been involved and it was thought possible that Marie Burke might have in some way become mixed up with that, either by confronting another member of staff over suspicions or having been blamed for a deal that in some way collapsed.